We’re at roughly 2000 days sinceZelda: Breath of the Wild
It certainly doesn’t feel like it, becauseZelda: Breath of the Wildis still relevant, but it’s been the biggest gap between mainlineZeldagames…ever.
Pointed out by Twitter user Geo, this is now the longest gap to date for the franchise, withLink’s Awakening(SNES) intoOcarina of Time(N64) holding the previous record of five years, five months, and 15 days. They point out that mainline3D entriesgenerally take longer and longer with each release, with every game sequentially increasing development time through the new gap betweenZeldagames today.
As they point out,Zeldafans are generally willing to wait for quality, and I don’t need to repeat the “delayed game” mantra once again as it’s ingrained in this series. But the main observation stems from a lack of original “portable” games to aid the droughts. The last one we had wastheLink’s Awakeningremake, which is decidedly not an original game. You can, however, make the case forCadence of Hyrule,Skyward Sword HD,andAge of Calamityensuring that the series hasn’t remained dormant.
For a while,Zeldafans were eating well in terms of supplemental games backing major 3D releases. I meanWind WakerintoMinish CapintoTwilight Princess, thenPhantom Hourglass/Spirit TracksintoSkyward Sword:that’s a hell of a run. AndOcarina of Time 3D(a re-release) was just kind of thrown in there too!
WhileBreath of the Wild 2will likely be the next majorZeldaentry at this point with a planned 2023 release, I hope we get aMinish Cap-style wildcard to assist with the next wait.
